Style Folders in Mac OS X with Emoji Icons

Thanks to the inclusion of Emoji in Mac OS X, you can now customize the appearance of Finder items by inserting Emoji characters into file and folder names. This offers yet another way to customize the appearance of a Mac OS desktop, and it can provide an easy visual identifier for file and folder names too.

Adding emoji into your folder (or file) names on the Mac is really quite simple, and it provides a fun way to improve the appearance of otherwise boring looking folders.

This article details how to spruce up and stylize a Finder item, whether a file or folder, on the Mac by adding some Emoji into the name:

How to Add Emoji to Folder Names in Mac OS

This works in all versions of Mac OS with Emoji support:

1. Launch TextEdit and hit Command+Option+T to access the Emoji characters selector
2. Double-click on an Emoji icon you want to use to insert it into a blank text document
3. Highlight and copy the inserted Emoji icon with Command+C
4. Now open the Mac OS X Finder and navigate to the folder or file you want to stylize with Emoji in the name
5. Click and hover to rename a file or folder, and use Command+V to paste the Emoji icon into the name
6. Repeat for other Emoji icons and files or folders

You may want to adjust the text size of file or folder names too so that the emoji is more visible. In the screenshot the font size for Finder items is set to 16 which provides more detail and a larger emoji icon in the name. You can do this yourself by doing the following:

• Go to the “View” menu and choose “Show View Options”
• About halfway down the panel look for “Text Size” and set it to accordingly

The text labels are also positioned to the right, which is done directly below text size. Pick a font size that works for you and what you want your Emoji characters to look like in the OS X Finder.

In a similar customization, you can also use Emoji in Launchpad folder names, file names, drive names, computer names, iOS device names, even Wi-Fi router names if you really wanted to. Emoji uses unicode characters, so they should show up on most other operating systems, though this works best on the Mac when viewed from one Mac or another iOS device.

Remember, you can always change the icons of any folder, file, or application in Mac OS X too. Combine the two, if you’d like.